 
Posted January 24, 2015 - 9:23pm
Conservatives want Nevada Assembly Speaker Hambrick out
A
small group is planning to launch a recall effort against Nevada
Assembly Speaker-designate John Hambrick, hoping that last year’s low
voter turnout and an anti-tax sentiment among hard-line conservatives
will propel their work to gain the needed signatures.
If
they have their way, their long-shot effort will disrupt the Assembly’s
leadership in May during the 2015 session, recalling Hambrick, R-Las
Vegas, from his legislative seat in the midst of decision-making on
proposals to boost state revenue.
With
involvement by conservative blogger and activist Chuck Muth, a
political action committee with three directors formed in late December
with the stated goal of waging a recall election against Hambrick, a
state lawmaker since 2008 now in his fourth term and a retired federal
law enforcement officer.
Organizers
contend Hambrick has strayed from a pledge to not raise taxes and is
not a reliable anti-tax vote in the Assembly. They point to statements
he has made expressing a willingness to work with Republican Gov. Brian
Sandoval, who unveiled in his State of the State speech an effort to
raise business license fees to generate more revenue for public schools.
Factors
they hope will turn the tide in their favor: a low voter turnout will
make it easier to get the needed signatures for a recall election; and
their anti-tax increase approach comes when the Legislature will be
looking at high-profile tax measures. They also figure that Hambrick’s
newfound status as speaker will only help their cause.
“If you take out the lead dog, you send one heck of a strong message,” Muth said.
Hambrick could not be reached for comment.
A.J.
Maimbourg, one of three directors listed for the Recall Hambrick PAC,
ran unsuccessfully against Hambrick in the 2014 general election as an
Independent American Party candidate. The other two are Russ Martin and
Kristopher Del Campo, also residents of the Assembly district with
Maimbourg. Muth is the registered agent, paperwork filed Dec. 29 shows.
No prominent state lawmakers have supported Hambrick’s recall.
Maimbourg vows that the effort is about pavement pounding and getting the word out in person.
“We’re not keyboard patriots,” she said. “We go out and get the job done.”
So
far, she has 15 people on teams to gather signatures. Though she can’t
start collecting signatures until 10 days after the legislative session
begins Feb. 2, the planning is starting.
She expects to have more volunteers to target registered voters.
“Basically, I’m really excited about it because it shows that the people — we the voters — can do something when we’re wronged.”
RECALL RULES
Organizers
need signatures from at least 25 percent of the voters who cast ballots
in Hambrick’s district in the 2014 election, regardless of their
political affiliation.
In
the last election, 16,462 people voted in Hambrick’s district. At least
4,116 of them would need to sign the recall petition in order to hold a
recall election.
Their goal is to beat both the 90-day deadline and the minimum voter threshold: 5,000 signatures within 30 days.
Getting
the needed signatures is only one step. The next would be the election
itself. During the election, any registered voter in the district could
participate, regardless of whether they voted in the last election.
There
are different scenarios. One is that other candidates could jump in,
filing paperwork to be on the ballot, which requires the same number of
signatures from 2014 voters.
Organizers hope to put forth a candidate but aren’t ready to name anyone yet.
Having an actual candidate would give them two potential options as they seek signatures for a recall.
Voters
could sign just the recall petition, even if they don’t support the
alternate candidate. Or voters could sign the petition and the
nomination form for a replacement candidate.
If
a recall election succeeds without an alternative candidate, the
all-Democrat Clark County Commission would appoint someone of the same
political party, but it isn’t bound by how conservative or anti-tax the
new legislator would be.
Muth projects a recall election could be in May — potentially before any big tax votes are taken by the Legislature.
During the legislative session, Hambrick cannot raise money to fight a recall effort. But the PAC can do so.
“Any
recall election is always a long shot,” Muth said. “They just don’t
happen very often but we do have a couple things going for us in this
case.”
Muth
said Sandoval’s State of the State address calling for raising business
fees is “very helpful to us” in raising awareness about the potential
for higher taxes.
“Everybody knows that it’s out there,” he said.
LONG-SHOT GOAL
Hambrick
has a track record of handily winning elections in his district, which
lies on the western edge of the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
He
won the District 2 Assembly seat in November, capturing 79 percent of
the vote against Independent American Party candidate Maimbourg in the
general election. No Democratic candidates ran against him in 2014. In
the 2014 primary, Hambrick fared equally well, with 76 percent of the
vote in a two-person race against Republican Mark Slotta.
The
pool of voters would be wide if the recall petition gains the needed
signatures. Assembly District 2 has 34,121 registered voters. Forty
percent, or 13,731 voters, are registered Republicans. Thirty-four
percent, or 11,725, are registered Democrats. The remaining 8,665, about
one-quarter of registered voters, are third-party or unaffiliated
voters.
Besides
the numbers, Hambrick also has history on his side. Secretary of state
records dating back to 1993 show no successful recall efforts filed
against state legislators, the office said.
Recall
elections are more likely to be successful when filed against local
politicians such as city council members or school board members,
particularly in rural areas with fewer registered voters.
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